Amazon.com
This is the single best book available on the Taliban, the fundamentalist Islamic regime in Afghanistan responsible for harboring the terrorist Osama bin Laden. Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist who has spent most of his career reporting on the region--he has personally met and interviewed many of the Taliban's shadowy leaders. Taliban was written and published before the massacres of September 11, 2001, yet it is essential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the aftermath of that black day. It includes details on how and why the Taliban came to power, the government's oppression of ordinary citizens (especially women), the heroin trade, oil intrigue, and--in a vitally relevant chapter--bin Laden's sinister rise to power. These pages contain stories of mass slaughter, beheadings, and the Taliban's crushing war against freedom: under Mullah Omar, it has banned everything from kite flying to singing and dancing at weddings. Rashid is for the most part an objective reporter, though his rage sometimes (and understandably) comes to the surface: "The Taliban were right, their interpretation of Islam was right, and everything else was wrong and an expression of human weakness and a lack of piety," he notes with sarcasm. He has produced a compelling portrait of modern evil. --John Miller
Book Description
Shrouding themselves and their aims in deepest secrecy, the leaders of the Taliban movement control Afghanistan with an inflexible, crushing fundamentalism. The most extreme and radical of all Islamic organizations, the Taliban inspires fascination, controversy, and especially fear in both the Muslim world and the West. Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban into sharp focus in this enormously interesting and revealing book. It is the only authoritative account of the Taliban and modern day Afghanistan available to English language readers.
Based on his experiences as a journalist covering the civil war in Afghanistan for twenty years, traveling and living with the Taliban, and interviewing most of the Taliban leaders since their emergence to power in 1994, Rashid offers unparalleled firsthand information. He explains how the growth of Taliban power has already created severe instability in Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and five Central Asian republics. He describes the Taliban’s role as a major player in a new “Great Game”—a competition among Western countries and companies to build oil and gas pipelines from Central Asia to Western and Asian markets. The author also discusses the controversial changes in American attitudes toward the Taliban—from early support to recent bombings of Osama Bin Laden’s hideaway and other Taliban-protected terrorist bases—and how they have influenced the stability of the region.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent analysis on the talibans before the USA intervention.......2007-09-12
A very well written book detailing the rise of the taliban movement and the immediate political crisis that followed. These ignorant warriors were thought to be liberators of the afghan people but demonstrated to be highly inadequate to pacify the country and govern it. Also astonishing the complete lack of central asian policy from the USA government after the cold war ended. This was seminal for the growth of extremist movements and was a major cause in the strenghtening of Al-Qaida. Clinton government has a major responsability for tide of the modern day terrorism. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are the best funders of terrorism and extremism but still they are the best allies of USA in the region...Highly recommended.
excellent book on the taliban .......2007-08-25
This is book brings in a clear picture of who the taliban is where it came from and how they came to give shelter to Bin Laden. There is a lot of names dates and places, making this book read a lot like a long journal article. This does not take a way from the work because it is a report of the facts that led the taliban to come to power. This book only gives the story pre 9/11 but it is needed for a complete understanding of how central asia has played such a pivotal role in islamic extremism and its ability to export terrorism on a world wide scale.
Good outlook but lacking ultimate judgement that they must be dealt with.......2007-07-22
yes a good book but it left out some of the most recent horrible actions by the taliban like the b-heading of teachers in the country. Of course the good thing is that this research is well founded and the documentation of the rise of the Taliban and their scope not just in Afghanistan, but the entire world is very good. So far I would have to say this is one of the better books on these ding bat goof ball chickens who hide behind babies and still think it is all in the name of Ah La. Barbaric ruling is brought to a whole new light and it makes me feel great I live where I do, can you imagine having your eyes gouged out because you pick what shows you watch for television?
Exhaustive, Invaluable, but could have used an editor.......2007-07-14
Read this book if you're_really_interested in the Taliban. You will be dizzied by the sheer amount of names and facts. Mr. Rashid covers it all and more. Since I am no diplomat or anti-terrorism official, I really wasn't in need of so much detail, so I found myself skimming large parts of it though. I also found myself frustrated by more than a few problems that a good editor should have caught. For instance, the map of Afghanistan in the front of the book does not show many of the towns, rivers and geographical features that the author references throughout the book. So, when the author was- for instance- explaining the geographical boundaries of the Pashtuns, I was completely lost since the map contained hardly any of the place names he was talking about. The author also seemed to be writing at such a hurried pace that he omitted seemingly important things or neglected some necessary facts about the subjects he was talking about. For instance, I wondered why he never mentioned the First Anglo-Afghan war, when a British Army was completely destroyed, but he mentioned the Second Anglo-Afghan War. We were also never told why the name of the Abdali tribe was changed to Durrani. He mentions several major events, like the overthrow of Zakir Shah without telling us when they happened. Still, this seems to be a definitive work and I certainly learned a lot from it, such as why the Taliban enjoyed such support among the Pashtuns and internationally; they were a vast improvement over their barbaric rivals in that Darwinian hellhole of Afghanistan. The American invasion was certainly a positive thing for our national interest and at least in theory for the Afghan people, but it remains to be seen whether the democratic government has the ability and ruthlessness to prevent the country from slipping back into a pre-Taliban anarchy.
Lord of the Flies on Steroids.......2007-05-03
I originally bought this book right after 911, but our early success in Afghanistan made it look as if the Taliban were toast and their history irrelevant. But, now that the Taliban are resurgent, this book proves itself essential to understand not only what happened in Afghanistan prior to 2001, but what will happen in Iraq once the U.S. withdraws, be it one, two, or ten years from now.
This book helped me understand that the U.S. invasion of Iraq will probably have the same consequences as the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1980. The Russians stayed almost ten years, before finally giving up on the idea of creating a friendly, viable nation state. Instead, as the author points out, Russian intervention created a "Lumpen Proletariat" of young, orphaned, ignorant, rootless, traditionless bandits, thugs, and drug smugglers who call themselves the "Taliban." The Taliban are boys without normal interaction with fathers, mothers, sisters, or extended family. Even Mullah Omar is a sad, lonely little wild boy in an adult body.
Try to imagine an entire nation governed by the type of boys described by William Golding in his novel, "Lord of the Flies." That is what decades of war have produced in Afghanistan. We are in the process of producing the same conditions in Iraq today. Based on the results of the "laboratory experiment" in Afghanistan, we can expect the same results from a similar volatile mix of ingredients in Iraq. After one, five, or ten more years of occupation, we will have Talibanized the entire middle east.
Rashid often refers to Roy Olivier's excellent study entitled "The Failure of Political Islam." I would highly recommend reading the Olivier study first, then the Rashid study. For those who do, it may seem as obvious as it does to me that the Western strategy of killing off charismatic Islamic leaders has the result of creating a vacuum that can only be filled by Golding's wild boys as best they can.
Militant Islam will not accept a national organization with a professional bureaucracy and constitutional government. It depends instead upon iron fisted dictatorships by charismatic leaders who appear to wear the mantle of Mohammed, as Mullah Omar pretends to do.
Rashid's evidence indicates to the discerning reader that Iran also passed through the "Lord of the Flies" stage after the long war with Iraq, in which over 1.5 million died. Iran today is a much more mature and consistent entity as a result of all that misery. Most of the Iranian wild boys grew up. In fact, one can hardly help concluding that a partnership with Iran would be far more productive than a partnership with Wahabbi exporting Saudi Arabia, which Rashid holds responsible for creating a Sunni extremism worse than any caused by Iran's Shia Moslems.
The most fascinating idea presented by Rashid was his proposed solution to the Afghan problem. Essentially, he proposed that each of the neighboring states each take responsibility for a slice of Afghanistan, with due consideration of the strategic interests of the other neighbors. He seemed to be suggesting some sort of partition composed of "trust territories" or "protectorates", in which each partition would be managed by a more or less benevolent neighbor state having a compatible ethnic identity. This parallels the solution proposed for Iraq by Senator Biden 17 years later. But Rashid takes the idea beyond the mere sound bite, providing real analysis to justify the proposal.
When one considers the application of the protectorate partition idea to the problem in Iraq, one immediately realizes one big advantage Iraq has over Afghanistan. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq's neighbors are relatively sophisticated nation states. Iran has matured. Turkey is a member of NATO. Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are strategic partners of the U.S. Syria is a bit of a wild card, but not nearly as dangerous as a nuclear armed "failed state" like Pakistan.
The other significant contribution of Rashid's study is an understanding of the tremendously fragile condition of Pakistan. His musings on whether the whole of Pakistan is simply being manipulated by the Pashtun tribes is fascinating. He thinks that rather than Afghanistan providing strategic depth for a potential conflict between Pakistan and India, the situation is actually the opposite. Pakistan is providing strategic depth for the Taliban. So long as the Pashtun can hide the Taliban in their sections of Pakistan, the Taliban will never be rooted out of Afghanistan. Heavily infiltrated by the Taliban, Pakistan seems balanced on the knife edge of anarchy, with its nuclear arsenal up for grabs. One shudders to think what might happen there. Pakistan seems far more worthy of the sacrifice of lives and treasure than Iraq.
We have another 19 months before we are rid of our failed Presidency under our own wild boy, George Bush. Surely, the next President of the United States will want a foreign policy in the Middle East that is based on fact instead of fantasy. I would hope that anyone who plans to participate in the next administration will read Rashid and Olivier.
We don't have to speculate about what will happen in Iraq. It has already happened in Afghanistan. Let's plan accordingly.
Book Description
A National Public Radio reporter covering the last stand of the Taliban in their home base of Kandahar in Afghanistan's southern borderland, Sarah Chayes became deeply immersed in the unfolding drama of the attempt to rebuild a broken nation at the crossroads of the world's destiny. Her NPR tour up in early 2002, she left reporting to help turn the country's fortunes, accepting a job running a nonprofit founded by President Hamid Karzai's brother. With remarkable access to leading players in the postwar government, Chayes witnessed a tragic story unfold-the perverse turn of events whereby the U.S. government and armed forces allowed and abetted the return to power of corrupt militia commanders to the country, as well as the reinfiltration of bands of Taliban forces supported by U.S. ally Pakistan. In this gripping and dramatic account of her four years on the ground, working with Afghanis in the battle to restore their country to order and establish democracy, Chayes opens Americans' eyes to the sobering realities of this vital front in the war on terror.
She forged unparalleled relationships with the Karzai family, tribal leaders, U.S. military and diplomatic brass, and such leading figures in the Kandahar government as the imposing and highly effective chief of police-an incorruptible supporter of the Karzai regime whose brutal assassination in June 2005 serves as the opening of the book. Chayes lived in an Afghan home, gaining rich insights into the country's culture and politics and researching the history of Afghanistan's legendary resistance to foreign interference. She takes us into meetings with Hamid Karzai and the corrupt Kandahar governor, Gul Agha Shirzai, into the homes of tribal elders and onto the U.S. military base. Unveiling the complexities and traumas of Afghanistan's postwar struggles, she reveals how the tribal strongmen who have regained power-after years of being displaced by the Taliban-have visited a renewed plague of corruption and violence on the Afghan people, under the complicit eyes of U.S. forces and officials.
The story Chayes tells is a powerful, disturbing revelation of misguided U.S. policy and of the deeply entrenched traditions of tribal warlordism that have ruled Afghanistan through the centuries.
Customer Reviews:
How we are losing Afghanistan........2007-09-10
The author Chayes details how the United States is losing Afghanistan after our brillant success in toppling the Taliban. The main reason is due to support of narrow based warlords who are pillaging the country. Due to supporting the wrong people, we are tarnishing our options as the population is coming to view NATO/U.S. as one and the same with the warlords. Everybody has focused on the fighting in Iraq and how we are losing there, but Chayes book details how both the military and civilian authorities have turned over Afghanistan to the same people that ran it into the ground prior to the Taliban. In her neck of the woods at Kandahar, the US has supported a warlord named Gul rather than better representatives in the Pashtun tribes.
I liked Sarah's book and give her high marks for her journals in Afghanistan. I would point out that Westerners have to be careful of how to tell Third World nationals on how to run their countries. Both is Iraq and Afghanistan, we face situations where people are coming to the forefront in the government. For us to tell them how to run their country smacks of colonialism. However, Chayes is right on the mark in staying that the U.S. made many mistakes in how they occupied this country.
Intelligent, fascinating, revealing. An exceptional assessment of post 9/11 Afghanistan!.......2007-08-07
If your thinking about buying this book, do yourself a favor, BUY IT! Regardless of your motives, this book is worth reading.
Sarah Chayes has produced a revealing and intelligent Occidental glimpse into post 9/11 Afghanistan.
Chayes experiences reporting for NPR and her experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco has given her the deft to negotiate the notoriously suspicious and misogynistic culture that permeates the Middle East. She is an observant and adept diplomat who does not mince words or appear to be beholden to any government agency or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).
Afghanistan, Chayes observes, is "an entire nation comprised of generations suffering the effects of PTSD." I had never considered such a possibility and if Americans realized this concept, perhaps we could be a bit more productive in our re-construction and social efforts.
For the military, Chayes's analysis of the county's centuries old "yaghistan reflex," which has salvaged generations of Afghans from raiding empires is both brilliant and of important note. Chayes also reveals the not-so-subtle influences of Pakistan on Afghan political and social instability.
This is all wound around the story of Chayes's experiences and her brief but telling assessment of Afghan history.
Chayes includes a perceptive and frank quote by one of her associates, Ayse Yildiz, that could surmise the situation there at least as much as the book's title, "Here we are, a bunch of kids from dysfunctional families, working at a dysfunctional organization, trying to fix a dysfunctional country."
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ.
An Outstanding Piece of Analusis.......2007-05-07
Sarah Chayes gives a view of Afganistan which goes far beyond what we get in the usual media. She is a skilled detective and finds answers which the military and the State Department cannot.
Captivating and Insightful Account of Afghanistan.......2007-04-03
This is one of the most insightful and captivating books written on Afghanistan since 2001. Ms. Chayes skillfully intersperses first-hand anecdotes, historical context, and current events into a non-fiction page-turner. This book does a wonderful job of giving the reader a good understanding of what is really happening in Afghanistan and why we can't ignore its problems.
Poignant Exposition of Failing Foreign Policy.......2007-03-29
Sarah Chayes has crafted a powerful book that well explains why reconstruction in Afghanistan, after several years and the expenditure of much blood and treasure, languishes. She is scholarly in creating a narrative that describes the geo-political realities affecting the region, and intensely personal as she describes her own experiences resulting from those realities. Her journalistic prowess shines as she makes some necessary history lessons flow. Her access to key players and the personal danger with which she lives on a daily basis give her the gravitas to make "Punishment of Virtue" a serious indictment of those she places in her cross-hairs. Sarah Chayes has masterfully written a book that exposes the buffoonery and corruption in the rebuilding of a country that was and is the stage of revolving wars by proxy. If you have read Sheehan's "Bright, Shining Lie" about Viet Nam, you will experience deja vu as you read "Punishment of Virtue".
Book Description
Born into a middle-class Afghan family in Kabul in 1980, Latifa had a conventional childhood. Then, Taliban soldiers seized power in Kabul. And from that moment, Latifa, just sixteen, became a prisoner in her own home. The simplest and most basic freedoms were forbidden. She was forced to put on a chadri, the state-mandated uniform that covered her entire body. Disbelief at having to hide herself was soon replaced by fear, the fear of being whipped or stoned like women she'd seen. My Forbidden Face provides a moving and highly personal account of life under the Taliban regime. With painful honesty and clarity, Latifa describes her ordered world falling apart, in the name of a fanaticism that she could not comprehend, and replaced by a world where terror and oppression reign.
Customer Reviews:
When Home Becomes Prison.......2007-10-02
Home became prison for women when the Taliban arrived. And I don't think Taliban rule was a picnic for most men either. "Latifah" did a great job of describing the deep depression of women whose lives suddenly became worth nothing with no hope and no dreams allowed.
This book was mentioned in a reader review of the book "A Thousand Splendid Suns". A reviewer implied that that the author plagiarized "Latifah's" book. I was curious so I bought "My Forbidden Face". I see no signs of any plagiarism at all. Can't imagine what the reviewer was thinking.
Another reviewer of "My Forbidden Face" wanted to know the reasoning behind the Taliban rules so that she could understand better. The Taliban wanted to demoralize and subjugate the people for complete control. That was the reason behind every crazy pronouncement.
I have to agree that the editing was poor and the timelines confusing. I had to re-read some portions of the book because I thought I missed segments. Turns out I didn't miss anything--what I was looking for wasn't there.
Definitely worth reading for the young woman's account of what life was like in Afghanistan during that time period. Scary and heartbreaking.
A Non-Muslim American Woman's Comments.......2007-04-17
I was eager to read this book because I wanted to learn about women's experiences in Afganistan at the hands of the Taliban. The title, "My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban, etc", indicated to me that this would be a personal, information-packed book on the subject. But as others have already said, the book was quite sketchy regarding the information it supposedly covered. Most of the Taliban decrees that Fatima listed were shocking to me, a western woman, and I wanted to understand her plight in greater detail. But instead I ended up with more questions than answers. Why was whistling forbidden (including ridiculously, even teakettles)? Why were photographs and paintings forbidden? Why were no books except the Quran allowed (that one would kill me for sure!)? What did she and her sisters do to pass the time living basically under house arrest for 3 years (besides lay on their bed, and listen clandestinely to the BBC in the evenings)? When she taught school, what did she teach and how did she teach it? How did the children respond? I would have loved to get a more personal account of her situation than I can get reading news stories. How do the Taliban's version of Islamic rule differ from non-Taliban rule? Why would the Taliban want to get rid of women, as she stated? These questions perplex me. I want to know the truth, I want to understand more.
When she said the United States' policies in the Middle East were mistakes and mishandled, I would like to know specifically what she was referring to. I don't doubt for a minute that the U.S. has bungled things in that region, probably on a grand scale, but I truly wanted to know what she thought first hand. Instead I think maybe she was superficially stating other people's views that she may not have been old enough to process yet.
As a non-Muslim American woman, Fatima's life and religion could not have been more opposite to mine than if she lived on another planet. Maybe Fatima will write another book after she has matured a bit so that she will add a more thorough account of her experiences to help those of us living in a far different world to understand the clash between our two cultures. Because I do believe that with knowledge and understanding of the other side, a way can come to get through this mess.
Could have used a competent editor, but good effort.......2007-03-17
This book jumps around a lot. The author could have used a better editor. Since this book deals with a lot of historical aspects of growing up in Afghanistan, a linear format would have worked better than the back and forth the author uses. One day her brother's fighting the Soviets. Then he's married in another country, then he's fighting the Soviets. You get the idea. It's a little hard to keep track of who's doing what.
As to the descriptions of the author's life, however, it was pretty good, but I don't feel she adequately captured the horrors of what was going on, at least not compared to other books I've read on the subject. More detail and expansion would have been good.
However, the book was very good, especially from one so young. I do recommend it.
My Forbidden Face : Growing Up Under the Taliban - A Young Woman's Story.......2006-03-27
My Forbidden Face : Growing Up Under the Taliban - A Young Woman's Story, is a firsthand account of a young girl under the Taliban. The Book begins as 16 year old Latifa, and ends when she is twenty one. I thought this book was very well written, and very enjoyable. I thought the book was kind of fluffy, meaning that, though it gave us information about the Taliban, and what it was like living under it, it was still not giving us a lot of detail. Sure, she talks about the rights they took away from women, and the depression it caused her and millions other women in the country, but I think she could have been a bit more focused on her life before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, as it is a biography.
I do recommend this book to people who are interested in Human Rights, women in the Middle East, but I think that people who have read other books about Women's rights issues wouldn't like this book as much as someone who has just begun to take an interest in the subjects.
I highy recommend The Princess Series, by Jean Sasson, and Nine Parts of Desire, by Geraldine Brooks.
What a story!.......2006-01-14
This book provides a first-hand account of daily life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Latifa (a pseudonym made necessary by death threats to the author and her family members) lived with her family in a middle-class area of Kabul. Her country had been at war her entire life. Over the years, Latifa and her family members struggled to be apolitical just so they could survive the frequent regime changes. One of her brothers served in the army under the Soviets, only to become a political prisoner under the regime; another was sent to university in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on a Soviet scholarship. When the Taliban took over Kabul, Latifa found herself virtually imprisoned in her apartment, forbidden by the Taliban from attending the university where she had just passed her entrance exams. Her sister had been an airline stewardess and her mother a doctor, but both were forbidden from continuing their professions. Her father was a businessman, whose Kabul warehouses were being continually destroyed in battle.
In this book, Latifa describes daily life for her family after the Taliban took control. She describes listening to edicts on the radio, forbidding women from working and girls from going to school. Women and girls were also not allowed to be treated by male doctors, and since women doctors were forbidden from practicing, this effectively shut half the population out from being able to receive any kind of health care. Women had to be covered from head to toe if they were to go out in public, and they had to be escorted by a male relative. On one of the few times Latifa dared go out of her apartment for a walk, she witnessed a horrific beating of women whose feet were covered but who had committed the apparently reprehensible crime of wearing the wrong color shoes.
At the beginning of her story, Latifa is an ordinary teenager, excited with fancy dresses and movie stars. But as the years go by, and she finds herself and all other women that she knows forbidden from participating in society in any, Latifa becomes more and more concerned with women's issues-indeed she becomes a feminist, although she had most likely never heard the term before. It's fascinating to read in her descriptions of childhood in Kabul of what a relatively normal life her family had been able to lead, despite the wars and political upheavals. This contrasts sharply with the changes brought in by the Taliban, when marriages could no longer be celebrated, and teachers could be beaten for providing lessons to little girls.
Latifa's occasional references to Dubai kept bringing back my own memories of the young Emirati women I taught there at about the same time Latifa was stuck in her apartment. In class one day at the height of Taliban power, I asked the students to construct an argument for why women should be educated. "But why?" they asked in shock. "Everyone knows women should be educated. No one would say otherwise-it's in the Q'uran." When I tried to tell them that the Taliban had forbidden women or girls from getting any kind of education in the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, they vociferously denied that this could be so. If only this book had been available then-perhaps the students might have believed Latifa's word, coming from a fellow Muslim girl, if they wouldn't believe mine. (Has it been translated into Arabic? Is it on the list of banned books for the Emirates?) This is a very-well written, gripping account of Afghani life from the point of view of an ordinary citizen, and highly recommended to anyone who wants to further their understanding of the Afghan society and attitudes towards the Taliban.
Average customer rating:
|
Taliban
Jon Lee Anderson
Manufacturer: Trolley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Photographers, A-Z
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Photo Essays
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Portraits
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Middle East
| Travel
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Ethnic Studies
| Special Groups
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Afghanistan
| Asia
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia
-
Alec Soth: Dog Days Bogota
ASIN: 0954264851
Release Date: 2004-07-01 |
Book Description
Kandahar, a city of Pashtuns noted for their gaiety, so to speak, where Mullah Omar had made his final headquarters, has traditions of men in high-heeled sandals, with make-up of kohl and painted nails like sultry silent-movie stars. They liked to have their pictures taken and, because the Taliban most certainly needed passports, their vanities were accomodated in the hole-in-the-wall photo shops that exist in downtown Kandahar. Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak, on war assignment for the New Yorker, discovered their photographs days after they had fled the city. They hung among portraits of Bruce Lee, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ahmed Shah Massoud, their faces retouched by the artful brushwork of the photographer. As exotic backdrops the subjects have chosen chalets in the Swiss Alps, where the mountains are green and Julie Andrews sings, rather than the forbidding grey and brown of their own country. Some are alone, others with a friend or a Kalashnikov, with garish colours stroked into the theme, along with flowers. They were the killers who have fled, leaving behind an absurd record of their presence.
Book Description
AFGHANISTAN- the name conjures images of rugged mountains, ancient cities, hardened Mujaheddin, a country rife with regional rivalries, and the eternal struggle between Tajik and Pashtun. Afghanistan comes to life in this epic adventure of love, betrayal, and war. Young Tajik Ahmed Jan'ss heroic journey begins in the Northern Alliance stronghold near Taloqan just a month prior to 9/11. He is swept away by the chaos that soon engulfs the country before a chance discovery propels him to the forefront of the clash between civilizations. Pursued by both the CIA and al-Qaida, he struggles to save his people from obliteration and find the true meaning of life in a land where all seems lost.
Customer Reviews:
Couldn't put this one down!.......2007-09-15
One of the Best . . . from someone who travelled Afghanistan in the 70s.
This book of fiction is filled with suspense, current events of war/terrorism, courage and romance all rolled into a superbly crafted story that was next to impossible to put down. The descriptions of Afghanistan were much as I remembered where, on highways, men would just get out of a vehicle and start walking towards the far mountains into what-appeared-to-be nowhere. The Taliban throughout the Khyber Pass were just as treacherous then as now, though most Afghanis were wonderfully hospitable to Americans. The game of Buzkashi was referred to and is something so unique to Afghanistan as I remember in Kabul. Can't wait to read Dr. Wilson's most recent: Ascent from Darkness.
Very believable Afghanistan thriller.......2007-04-17
This is both a believable international thriller and a scary novel about the ethnic and religious hatreds that plague Afghanistan and the world. I do not know how an eye doctor from California and Minnesota has done it, but the characters and locales it describes seem very authentic. It is a very good read. I leave it to other readers to decide whether the ending is hopeful or pessimistic about easing those ethnic hatreds.
Great Read!!.......2006-10-24
I REALLY enjoyed this novel and would rate it up there with some of my favorite all-time entertaining books like The Day of the Jackal and The Firm. I'm a former business major, but I found the scientific part about the new type of virus weapon understandable and chilling. I hated to see the book end, but the finale was powerful...just like the rest of the story. I highly recommend Winter in Kandahar!
Superb book!!! You will love it!.......2006-08-04
Winter in Kandahar is a wonderful book about a young Afghani man set during the time just prior to September 11th. I am an avid reader and I absolutely could not put this book down!! It had a bit of everything in it... mystery, suspense, romance. If you are looking for a fabulous read, look no more!! You will LOVE this book!!
Enthralling, thought provoking, enjoyable!.......2006-07-24
I absolutely loved this novel! The timeliness of the reality-based plot in the framework of an epic that spans the globe made for a lot of reading enjoyment. I usually don't get an opportunity to read until we put the kids to sleep and by then I'm usually too tired. I got a copy of this book just before a two week vacation and had a hard time putting it down long enough to enjoy my trip. I found myself eager with anticipation for the chance to crawl beneath the covers each night and return to the captivating Winter in Kandahar story.
The novel begins a short time prior to September 11, 2001 in the northeast corner of Afghanistan where the Northern Alliance remains precariously in control of territory that includes the Panjshir Valley where the Alliance Mujaheddin are making what appears to be their last stand against the combined forces of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The main character of the novel, young ill-fated fighter Ahmed Jan, is on the front lines of the see-saw battles that have seen his entire family wiped out. As shaky as the Northern Alliance situation is, it's made all the worse by the assassination of revered Northern Alliance leader Commander Ahmed Massoud at the hands of al- Qaeda in chapter 2. Ironically, in this their darkest hour, the Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington D.C. turn out to be salvation for the Tajik, Uzbek and other groups of the Northern Alliance who are resisting the cruel Taliban domination. Within weeks, U.S. Special Forces, Air Force, Navy, and other military units sweep the Taliban out of Kabul, Taloqan, Kandahar, and other major cities of Afghanistan and put them on the run, along with their al-Qaeda guests, into the Pakistani tribal territories along the Afghan border. Ahmed Jan finds a mysterious communiqué in the coat of an al-Qaeda messenger and, along with ruthless Mujaheddin fighter Mustafa and old, rigid holy man Mohammajon, gets swept into an adventure that spans the globe from Islamabad to Amsterdam to Venice to Seattle to Vancouver to Karachi and back to Kandahar. This engrossing epic story includes CIA operatives and Special Forces soldiers interwoven with three love stories with very different endings. The adventure concludes with a movingly heartrending, surprise finale. I must be a romantic at heart too, because I enjoyed the romances. It's hard to believe the previous reviewer was writing about the romance between the Tajik fighter Mustafa and the nurse Fatima in the Pakistani Hospital because it's so central to the plot. I guess she was referring to the pubescent romance between the young American scientist and his student. I guess the author could have omitted it, but I enjoyed it, and it helped to break up what otherwise could have been too heavy.
I highly recommend this book for both women and men who are fans of international thrillers.
Book Description
The only complete single-volume military history of Afghanistan, from ancient times to the war waged by the United States after September 11.
Following the events of September 11, 2001, the world was riveted as American military power contested the legendary warrior culture of Afghanistan. By spring 2002, America began to draw down its forces, its mission accomplished: The Afghan Taliban regime has been overthrown and the terrorists it harbored were on the run. Was America's easy victory proof of its military superiority, or were the Afghans merely eyeing the newcomers as they have watched foreign armies in centuries past, knowing time is on their side?
For over 2,500 years, the forbidding territory of Afghanistan has served as a vital crossroads--not just for armies but for clashes between civilizations--the Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, and Tartars, and in more recent times, Britain and Russia. Now America must face a new enemy on this land--a land that for centuries has become a graveyard of empires past.
This first-ever complete military history of Afghanistan illuminates the broad historical context into which American forces have been drawn--a cautionary tale, perhaps, about the dangers that may lie ahead.
Customer Reviews:
Afghanistan: A military history from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban.......2007-09-28
Excellent book that informs the reader about the country and its military events. US Army issues this book to some Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan.
Helpful for breadth, not for depth.......2007-08-11
This is an excellent book if you are just looking into the mindset of the region, and a basic history of Afghanistan. However, as another reviewer states, it does begin to fall flat on the more modern history. Again, Stephen Tanner acts as though the Taliban are gone forever toward the end of the book. He also makes a lot of assumptions, guesses, and does show that he lacks an understanding of our military and their strategies. For example, the suggestion that we were using Afghans as "cannon fodder" because we didn't give them combat boots, body armor, helmets and M-4s or M-16s. For a better understanding of why the Afghans wouldn't have accepted (or used) any of those things, I suggest reading Marcus Luttrell's Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10. The short answers on both of those are "stealth" and "reliability". (The author actually refers to the AK-47 as RICKETY. Yikes.)
Becuase of this, for me, it does throw into doubt the rest of the book. If he could get so many basics wrong (again, the AK-47 - rickety? Really?) did he get any of the ancient history stuff right? Well, he doesn't cite any sources, so if you're looking for historical accuracy, you should pass on this. But I recommend this book if you want a somewhat slanted, entertaining, breadth-first basic approach to the military history of Afghanistan. It is rather easy to read.
If you want to really know what's going on in Afghanistan though, right now, there are better books out there. I highly recommend Luttrell's book above for a on-the-ground look at the Operation Enduring Freedom.
Overall I give this entertaining look at Afghanistan 3 rickety AK-47s out of 5.
Concise and general in its scope, with concentrated focus on the most pivotal events, well founded and provoking analysis.......2007-08-09
Stephen Tanner's book "Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban," is a brilliant and exciting piece of work that will serve Western readers well.
Tanner's work covers the regional peoples and ancient tribes who have made indelible contributions to modern Afghan society to the first years of U.S. intervention in the "War on Terror."
The early chapters of the book are an interesting brief on Afghan history condensed. Featuring an exhaustive list of regions, tribes, villains and personalities that would otherwise require too much additional background to cover in-depth, Tanner fittingly navigates early history to focus on primary events in Afghan history and the overall Afghan experience, if there ever was such a thing.
Tanner's modern-day material draws on British, or at least mostly Occidental sources, and covers the British and Russian experience in Afghanistan noticeably more in-depth. The connections Tanner makes between Afghanistan and Switzerland are brilliant and set the stage for his conclusion.
Given the subsequent events since the book's publication, it would not be difficult to fill in any holes with supplemental material from various sources, if not Tanner's newer material, regarding the American-Afghan experience since. Obviously the accuracy of Tanner's analysis will remain to be seen within the context and perhaps only at the conclusion of the "War on Terror."
Afghanistan itself, exists as a profound storehouse and contributor to world culture. The future of the world's destiny is no less shaped by this region once bisecting East and West; now bisecting past and present, than it has been throughout time.
Overall, "Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban" is an exceptional look at a subject too many Americans can claim ignorance, if only by virtue of geography.
Perhaps best of all, it is written with hope, rather than writing off the long suffering Afghan people, be it through Imperialism, radical Islam or perhaps most unfortunately, benign neglect.
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, READER OPINIONS ARE WELL SERVED BY THE PHENOMENON OF THE INTERNET!
Premature and lacking detail.......2007-07-04
For starters this book prematurely declares that the Taliban has fallen. Even now in 2007 the US is dealing with the Taliban. Second this book describes various battles and wars, but doesn't give any context. There are very few maps and he gives no context to where places are and how far apart they are. I was very disappointed with this book.
Detailed and Highly Readable Analysis.......2007-04-30
This is an excellent work and is a must read for any serious student of Military Studies. Although some would point to his errors of spelling certain place names, this point was covered in the "Preface" to his work as the Author acknowledged the differences in opinion on correct spelling.
This book is highly readable history, comprehensive in its coverage and fair-minded in the way it is conveyed.
As a side bar, be sure to have a very good geographical map or maps of the area of Central Asia before you begin.
A must read
Dr. Terry Tucker
Combined Security Transition Command-Afganistan
Book Description
Kamal Matinuddin analyzes the origin, aims and objectives of the Taliban movement, examining the reasons for their phenomenal success, and explaining clearly the repercussions of an ultra-religious regime in Kabul on the security of Pakistan and its neighbors.
Customer Reviews:
Here Today Gone Tomorrow.......2004-05-20
I found this book in a used book store for just a few dollars and thought it would be worth that just get gather a better understanding of this part of the world pre 9-11. It turned out that the book is worth about what I paid for it. The book gives the reader an interesting and adequate review of the Taliban take over of Afghanistan. The book gives the reader a brief, but well thought out history of Afghanistan before the 90's. The author then covers the Taliban incubation and eventual take over of the country. What I found so interesting was the almost haphazard way that Mullah Omar created the movement and lead it. You got the impression from the book that he was as absent from the day to day command of the troops and government functions as would say the Secretary of Defense be involved in a German Base janitorial staff vacation scheduling.
When the book covered the military of all parties involved in the country it almost sounded like a historical overview of USSR equipment from World War 2 to about 1990. You got to give the Afghani's credit for keeping World War 2 tanks battle ready. If there is ever any evidence needed to support the argument that all it takes to cause a military issue is a few guys with automatic weapons, the Taliban movement is it. As far as the great military victory in 2001 of the Northern Alliance, this book might shed some light on the Afgan military strategy. It looked to me like basically all you need to do to be successful in Afghanistan is to fire a few rounds into the air and start handing out bribes. The author described the whole country as nothing more then small groups of bandits that will fight for who ever hands out the largest payments. One other interesting point is that Osama Bin Laden in mentioned a few times in the book, but is basically viewed as an anti Saudi rich guy hanging out.
It was not so much that the book was not complete, I just think any more and the book would have fallen into a serious study of Afghanistan history that would appeal to a small hand full of people. On the other hand it did not seam to give more then a brief overview of any one particular topic. Overall I enjoyed the book and found it interesting, but only because of recent history. It does spend a good amount of time talking about the politics in the region around Afghanistan, which is a good primer for the current international environment and the war on terror. If you are interested in the topic it is a good general book, if you want an in depth study then this book is probably not for you.
A Little Too Wordy.......2000-05-09
There is no doubt the author has compiled a vast amount of information in making this book. Unfortunately a lot of information doesn't translate into a very interesting read. If you are looking for serious in depth information on the Taliban history, and future this is definately the book for you. If on the other hand you are looking for interesting material in a quick and easy fashion as I was you will be disappointed.
Taliban.......2000-05-07
The book is mostly on the sucess of the Taliban in Afghanistan. It talks about the regime, and what they have done to acheive their goals, and why they are trying to achieve the unity of Afghanistan. It aslo focuses on the former capitol Kabul, and the destruction of the famous city. Afghanistan neighbors such as PAkistan, and Iran...how are they helping the Talibans if and any, and why?
Book Description
An international bestseller, banned in Switzerland by the bin Laden family, FORBIDDEN TRUTH: U.S. -Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the Failed Hunt for Bin Laden by Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie shows how U.S. national security in Afghanistan was disastrously compromised by corporate oil interests and Saudi Arabia.
Author Brisard wrote the first intelligence report on the bin Laden financial networks which was used to close down fraudulent Islamic charities that funded terrorism, a report that President Jacques Chirac handed to George Bush on his visit to the US in the wake of 9/11.
Forbidden Truth reveals that French intelligence gave the FBI clear and unambiguous information that the so-called 20th hijacker, Zacarias Massaoui, was tied to Al Qaeda, a story Brisard broke to Salon magazine before Special Agent Coleen Rowley came out publicly to say the FBI stifled the investigation.
John O'Neill the former head of the FBI's antiterrorism division - who perished in the World Trade Center on September 11— told Jean-Charles Brisard in July 2001, "All of the answers, all of the clues allowing us to dismantle Osama bin Laden's organization, can be found in Saudi Arabia."
The result of three years of investigation by a leading French intelligence expert and investigative journalist, Forbidden Truth is the untold story of the Clinton and Bush administration's attempts to stabilize Afghanistan so that U.S. energy companies could build a pipeline. In particular, it details the secret and hazardous diplomacy between the Bush administration and the Taliban between February and August 2001 — a story still untold in the U.S. media — talks that ultimately led the US to make threats via Pakistani intermediaries to the Taliban in July 2001 that they were going to bomb Afghanistan if the Taliban didn't comply.
Customer Reviews:
Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy, Saudi Arabia and the Failed Search for bin Laden.......2007-01-09
good
Authors publicly apologize for their own false statements.......2006-11-10
The book's authors recently published a full-page advertisement in the Economist, The Times (of London) and the Financial Times apologizing to two of the victims of their slander. The below apology was presented as a way for the authors to avoid very severe penalties after a libel suit which they lost. The authors' factual errors are many and obvious: dates wrong, names wrong, claims that public UN meetings were "secret," job titles that never existed, etc. A quick Google search will turn up dozens of pages breaking down the objective factual errors on which the authors built their flimsy conclusions.
And now, the apology itself:
We, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquié, are the authors of Forbidden Truth, a book circulated widely since it was first published in the autumn of 2001. I, Jean Charles-Brisard, am also the author of a Report entitled Terrorism Financing published in December 2002.
The Book and the Report contain very serious and highly defamatory allegations about Sheikh Khalid Bin Mahfouz and Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Mahfouz, alleging support for terrorism through their businesses, families and charities, and directly. As a result of what we now know, we accept and acknowledge that all of those allegations about you and your families, businesses and charities are entirely and manifestly false.
The allegations were based on information which we have now been able to establish has been largely withdrawn or refuted in the intervening years since Forbidden Truth was first published, and to our knowledge has never been verified. We did not anticipate at the time the Book and the Report were written that the information which we relied upon would later be withdrawn or refuted. Notwithstanding research into terrorism financing, we have learnt nothing since the publication of the Book and the Report which suggests there is any evidence supporting the allegations. We therefore now unreservedly withdraw all of the allegations about you both in the Book and the Report and confirm that we will never repeat them.
We appreciate the very serious damage that has been caused to your reputations by these allegations. We also accept that the allegations caused you and your family very great distress. For all of this we are truly sorry.
OK but not quite accurate.......2006-05-24
Number 1 Bin Laden did not attack the US on 9/11 that was a set up by THIS ADMINISTRATION that fully planned and allowed 9/11 to happen.
Bin Laden completely denied any involvement in 9/11 just a week or so after it happened.
It has been believed at least with 90% certainty the Bin Laden is dead and has been for about 5 years.
All these 'tapes" that magically appear each and everytime they are needed by these Treasonous War Criminals that have taken the Whitehouse in a coup are all fakes just like the obviously fake video they just happened to "find" in Afghanistan showing someone that is not even a good Bin Laden look alike admitting to something he just got through completely denying a month earlier.
I dont think the REAL tape was ever played here, was played all over the rest of the planet, the FAKE tape was played here adnauseam.
The author gets some of the similarities between Bush and Hitler, and the Nazi party Vs the Neocon party, and the connections between Big Oil and War.
But these Neofascist that have taken over this country are run by the PNAC group.
They got their "New Pearl Harbor" they wanted & "planned" on September 11th 2001.
I just hope the people of this country dont let them get away with it because the rest of the planet is not fooled and they are horrified at what this administration is being allowed to do.
Michael Moore's Lost Twin?.......2005-03-05
I got this book not too long ago based on some of the reviews here. Like everyone else I want to get to the bottom of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. I thought maybe this book would have the answer.
Well going through it the book does make a lot of sense. I can understand the attraction of the oil money and the involvement of politicians and other powerful figures.
But it kind of falls down when you look at the truth behind it. Some of the people in the book have taken the authors to court over what it says. And as far as I can tell the result was that the authors were wrong. Now I know it would be kind of hard to show that someone or other paid for the Twin Towers attacks and so on but you would think there would be enough to get it to hold up in court. But I am wrong about that!
So this book is kind of the twin to Fahrenheit 911. A lot of interesting stuff but you don't know if it is true or not. I tried looking at Brisard's company site and it seems to be shut down. I saw a web page that said one of the court decisions against him also included shutting down the company.
Now what I find really sad about this is that Brisard was helping the families of the 911 victims sue the terrorists. The US cannot even catch Ben Laden so it made sense to me that you could sue the Saudis and so on to get some justice. But I for one have to wonder if the court actions against Brisard are going to make it just a little harder for the families to get their fair day in court.
All in all the book is worth reading as it is pretty interesting even today but you just have to wonder how much is really true.
More Like Forbidden Libel.......2005-02-16
I found this book utterly fascinating when it came out and I have followed the contents and authors closely. Since then the authors have lost every libel action filed against them and the US has had to retract Mr. Brisard's congressional testimony. It also develops that he never did work for the United Nations despite saying so. Even though I used to think this book had the truth about 9/11 now I think it is just conspiracy theory and that's sad.
Gemma
Book Description
Cut adrift after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Afghanistan has become a political no-man's-land. Historically an artifical "buffer state", Afghanistan has in recent years become the geopolitical playground of a variety of competitng interests - the Americans, the Saudis, Russians and Pakistanis, let alone drug barons, arms dealers and oil interests.
Afghanistan's unstable and problematic history is now further complicated by the emergence of the Taliban - one of the most conservative and least understood Islamic movements in the world.The Taliban continues to grab the headlines, most notably for their appalling treatment of women, and their connections to Osama bin Laden.
Investigative journalist Michael Griffin draws numerous interviews with key protganists, and offers a fasccinating eyewitness picture drawn from three extensive trips to Afghanistan. He paints the fullest picture yet of the Taliban movement, its origins, beliefs, religious and political ethos, and the character and impact of its particular brand of fundamentalism. In the process he reveals the controversial nature of the Taliban's links with the CIA, Saudi Arabia and other vested interests. Who is to blame for the present situation? What conspiracies and collusions led to this pass? The author's conclusion reveals his view of where the "smoking gun" is pointed.
Customer Reviews:
REVEALING.......2007-05-12
Not being as grammatically proficient as some of the other reviewists, I can only add my observation.
While being a difficult book to read, not easy flowing as in a novel, the subject of this book is so well researched and packed with facts, that slower reading is required to assimilate all the info.
To me Afghanistan has always been a vague cauldron of politics.
Michael Griffin's book has opened this 'mystery' of politics by explaining in detail the interaction of all neighboring countries, especially Pakistan who plays a leading role in the politics of the area and the Taliban.
Very informative reading. If you are interested in politics read it, if not read Harry Potter.
Highly recomended, most intelligent book I've read in a decade.
Some good stuff on Afghanistan.......2001-11-30
There is some good stuff in this book about America's new friends in the war for freedom and against terrorism, the Northern Alliance. I've noticed recently some commentators saying that the Northern Alliance leaders had nothing to do with the massive bloodshed in Afghanistan from 1992-96 and that was all the fault of Gullubdin Heckmatyar. Well, according to this book Heckmatyar's organization received through Pakistan about half of all the money funnled by the West and the reactionary Arab regimes into the Jihad against the Soviet Union in the 80's. He the guy wholikes to throw acid in women's faces who don't wear the burkha and has been involved in the drug trade, though his influence has been reduced dramatically in the past few years. After the communist government was overthrown in April 1992, Heckmatyar began massively bombarding civillians in Kabul. President Rabbani made him prime minister of his government in mid-93 but he took to bombarding Kabul again on Janary 1st 1994 along with general Rashid Dostum and the Shiite group Hizb-i-Wahdat, two of the prominent members of the current Northern Alliance. The Taliban drove them away in February 1995 shortly before they began their own massive bombardment of Kabul. In May 1996 Rabbani, who recently reinstalled himself in Kabul, once again made Heckmatyar prime minister and bans on certain forms of entertainment were introduced, as well as Sharia law and Islamic dress code and so on.
Other mass killings are described in this book like those by like the current northern alliance forces of Ahmad Massoud's army in the Shia Hazarajat and Abdul Malik, whose forces defected from Dostum's government to allow the Taliban to capture Mazar-i-Sharif in May 1997 but almost immediately turned against the Taliban and conducted a Saddam Hussein-like massacre of Taliban prisoners of war and it seems, thousands of civillians.
Of course it is hard to reach the utter barbarism of the Taliban. There is no need to repeat the horrific details. They emerged as a group friends in Kandahar province in late 94' who gained noteriety for fierce piety and honesty in contrast to the former Mujahadeen warlords whose forces were running around looting and raping and killing everybody. The U.S. clearly hoped that the efforts of Unocal to make arrangements with the Taliban leaders for a trans-Afghanistan oil pipeline from Turkmenistan would succeed. The dictator of Turkmenistan had switched allegiances from Bridas of Argentina to Unocal. After the whole thing blew up and they were left with a regime that was sheltering Osama Bin Laden, the monster that the Reagan adminstration helped create in the 80's, and serving as a conduit for drug smugglers (The Northern Alliance people are very heavy into that business also though Griffin does not say this).
Al Quaida is a very decentralized organization. Bin Laden may not have known about Sept 11. The evidence presented for his involvement by the British government has been rather thin. Griffin says that the evidence for him being involved in the attacks on the U.S. embassies in August 1998 and his relationship to the Al Shifa medicine plant in the Sudan which Clinton blew up is very tenuous. (...)
The prose style in this book is in parts really leaden. One gets the feeling that the book as a whole was not edited very well.
swamped.......2001-11-13
The first few pages of this book are informative, but in the same way a few pages on europe might summarize its history from the 16th century onward. I was so overwhelmed that I gave up.
Insightful!.......2001-10-20
Don't look here for flowery prose; this is an academic accounting of the modern history of Afghanistan and the origins of the Taliban movement. In a flood of chronological detail, Michael Griffin traces the political evolution (or devolution) of the country from the 1973 fall of King Zahir Shah, through Soviet occupation and horrifying civil war, to the birth and victory of the Taliban. Playing a central role in this history is Osama Bin Laden, whose presence in Afghanistan severely muddied an already bleak environment. Griffin is even-handed in his analysis - misogynistic Taliban, expansionist Pakistanis and disingenuous U.S. administrations all receive sharp criticism. We [...] strongly recommend this clear-headed history of a now critical region to all readers.
War children, it's just a shot away, it's just a shot away.......2001-09-28
Michael Griffin has stitched together a narrative on the Taliban movement from literally hundreds of local and international news reports. Much of his material consists of ýcomments on commentsý and rumor and innuendo, all fused into a reality that provides the reader with a book at once informative, and also hyperbolic. Indeed the civilized world will be put more than ill at ease by the authorýs description of the barbaric behavior engaged in by a collection of factions, all of who have played some role in the rise of the Taliban.
In a real sense it's as if the competing tribes are behaving like some turbaned group of Mafia families playing a round robin playoff in a deadly game of tissue damage. The goal is to decide who will rule the money flows from the proposed trans Caucausus and central Asian pipelines that will run from the world's largest oil reserves in Azerbaijan, Kazakstan and Turkmenstan. Follow the money and overlay the story with the imposition of the Taliban's idea of Islamic law and you have the picture. Like most ruling eliteýs they set rules for others that they themselves only hint at following.
The author provides you with all the geopolitical drama of the constantly shifting tribal and religious alliances which will determine Afghanistanýs fate. This tale differs little, except in style, with the contrast between a society that builds and a society that destroys. What has the Taliban built? Contrast this with their destruction of the Bhuddist sculptures of Bamiyan, their denial of basic education to the people, their grisley public amputations and inhumane executions of those who disagree with their religious doctrine. For the politically correct they donýt treat their women very well either. Indeed they've overseen a destruction of their own socio-economic sphere of the world.
Balint Vazsonyi's book "America's 30 years war" is instructive in comparing societies that engage in "building up" with those that engage in "tearing down". Abe Lincoln once said that there are two ways to have the biggest house in town; build it or tear everyone else's down. Ipso the attack on America re the WTC and the Pentagon.
When America withdrew from the Afghani theatre after the fall of the USSR, the Taliban won in their Mafioso version of "going to the mattresses". This book gives you all the available details. It's best to remember that all wars seem to be fought over money in the name of religion. In that sense this conflict appears to be no different.
Books:
- Tantra: The Art of Conscious Loving
- Teach Yourself VISUALLY Photoshop Elements 4 (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech))
- Teacher Man: A Memoir
- The Business of Studio Photography: How to Start and Run a Successful Photography Studio
- The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street (Everyman's Library)
- The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After the White House
- The Connecticut River Boating Guide, 3rd: Source to Sea (Falcon Guide)
- The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss
- The Everything Mediterranean Cookbook: An Enticing Collection of 300 Healthy, Delicious Recipes from the Land of Sun and Sea (Everything: Cooking)
- The God of Animals: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Teaching Elementary Science: A Full Spectrum Science Instruction Approach
- History: Fiction or Science
- Ellen Gallagher: Murmur
- Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
- Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life
- History: Fiction or Science
- Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam
- On Edge: Performance at the End of the Twentieth Century
- Exploring Literature Farm Animals Kit 3
- Stonewall Jackson: A Life Portrait
Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia
Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics
Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban
